more computer geekery
I’m close to moving on a new computer purchase. It may be two weeks hence, because the rent is due this week, but certainly by then I’ll be ready. (I’m trying to decide if I want to pay for it all at once or, say, put it on the plastic and pay for it over a period of four months. I generally hate carrying credit card debt, and I don’t usually do it.)
I’m looking at a Dell XPS 400, with the 3.0GHz Pentium dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 256MB Nvidia GeForce 7800 video card with SLI. I can get a bit of a deal on the Dell 20″ widescreen flat-panel monitor, too. (Later I might buy a twin unit for it.) My family, my current employers, and my previous employers all did business with Dell, and none have been disappointed. I’ve heard about the horror stories of other bloggers (Jarvis in particular), but that has not been my experience.
I decided not to build one. I can build the machine by itself for around $1200, but by the time I bought a good flat-panel monitor and a copy of Windows (since I intend to do some gaming), I’d be at or possibly over the $1600 asking price for the Dell machine, and I’d be on my own for support with fewer warranty options from the very beginning. I’ve decided that’s not worth it.
Jo on
06.01.2006 @ 09:28
That’s a solid system, and it should be Vista-ready, although if you have a little extra cash, why not grab a video card with even more onboard memory (512 at least).
06.01.2006 @ 16:59
Unfortunately, the kind of money Dell is asking for such a card is in fact an issue.
My employer offers a discount on Dell PCs; I might see just what that is worth.